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Pius Thicknesse
Minister Pius Thicknesse was a wizard and a Ministry of Magic official in the mid to late 1990s. During the Second Wizarding War, he became Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as well as, later in the War, Minister for Magic under Lord Voldemort's puppet regime while under the Imperius Curse and thus essentially Voldemort's puppet himself. He replaced Rufus Scrimgeour as Minister of Magic, who had been murdered by Voldemort. Thicknesse took part in the final conflict of the War where he fought alongside the Death Eaters, still under the curse. He was ousted from power after Voldemort's defeat and was succeeded by Kingsley Shacklebolt in his post of Minister for Magic. Biography Early life Thicknesse was born somewhere in the British Isles to the Half-blood Thicknesse family. It is likely he attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in his youth, possibly earning some O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s. Sometime after his seventeenth birthday, Thicknesse joined the Ministry of Magic. Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement When Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, was murdered by Voldemort in the summer of 1996, Thicknesse was appointed her successor, presumably by then-Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour. When one takes in consideration that the Department of Magical Law Enforcement is the largest Ministry department (to which the remaining six departments are all, in some respect, answerable with the possible exception of the Department of Mysteries), it seems to be safe to presume Thicknesse was high up at the Ministry at the time of his appointment in 1996. Under the Imperius Curse In the summer of 1997, as part of Voldemort's plan to take over the Ministry, Death Eater Yaxley placed the Imperius Curse on Thicknesse. He mentioned that this was more difficult than he had expected and made him very nearly late for an important Death Eater meeting at Malfoy Manor (as Thicknesse's nature allowed him to resist). Many of the other Death Eaters were impressed with Yaxley's work, Antonin Dolohov clapping him on the back in congratulations, but Voldemort pointed out that Thicknesse was only one man, as well as that he needed Minister Rufus Scrimgeour surrounded by his agents before he acted. Thicknesse proved useful, however. As head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Thicknesse had regular contact not only with the Minister himself, but also with the Heads of all the other Ministry departments, making it easier to subjugate the others. Thicknesse proceeded to do just that, remaining undiscovered and using his position to infiltrate the senior ranks of the Ministry, slowly working together to bring Scrimgeour down. Thicknesse also aided Voldemort in trapping Harry Potter at 4 Privet Drive, mainly by making it an imprisonable offence to connect the house to the Floo Network, to place a Portkey there, or to Apparate in or out. Officially, all of this was done for Harry's protection, but in reality, it was pointless, as Harry was protected by a charm from his mother's blood while living with his relatives. The Trace was also in effect, so if Harry or anyone around him cast a spell to get him out of there, Thicknesse would know about it and so would the Death Eaters. The Order of the Phoenix, as a result, believed Thicknesse had "gone over", which made it a big problem with the plan to move Harry. They abandoned the original plan, as they were unable to wait for the Trace to break: the moment Harry turned seventeen, all the protection he received from his mother would be lost. In short, Thicknesse thought he had Harry cornered good and proper, to which Harry could not help but agree. As such, the Order was reduced to using the only means of magical transport left to them: broomsticks, Thestrals and Sirius Black's motorbike, setting the stage for the flight from Little Whinging, and the murder of Alastor Moody by Voldemort. As Minister for Magic Eventually, Thicknesse and the other subverted high-ranking Ministry officials, launched a "smooth and virtually silent" coup alongside the Death Eaters, and on 1 August, 1997, the Ministry fell. The Daily Prophet was also taken over, the official version of Scrimgeour's murder was that he resigned, as well as Thicknesse replaced him. Only the Order seemed to be aware that he was under the Imperius Curse. As a result, Thicknesse was nothing but a puppet, taking care of everyday business while Voldemort, effectively the true Minister, was free to extend his power beyond the Ministry. Thicknesse, at Voldemort's direction, installed a new regime at the Ministry that was more in line with Death Eater ideology. His actions included having a statue depicting a witch and wizard on top of a throne made from the bodies of crude-looking Muggles, inscribed with the motto "Magic is Might" set up in the Ministry Atrium, replacing the Fountain of Magical Brethren. Yaxley succeeded Thicknesse as head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and several other Death Eaters, such as Travers and Selwyn, were appointed to other powerful positions within the Ministry. Meanwhile at Hogwarts School, the Dark Arts and prejudiced depictions of Muggles were taught by professors Amycus and Alecto Carrow respectively under the new Headmaster, Severus Snape. Hogwarts attendance became mandatory, as well as students must prove their blood-status, with Muggle-borns removed. Harry Potter was declared "Undesirable No. 1", wanted for questioning about the death of Albus Dumbledore with a ten-thousand-Galleon reward on his head (which was by March, 1998 increased to two-hundred-thousand when attempts to find him all over the country continued to fail). Using falsified research done in the Department of Mysteries, the Ministry claimed that Muggle-borns "stole" their magic from "real" witches and wizards. As a result, the Muggle-Born Registration Commission was set up to persecute and imprison Muggle-borns, with Dolores Umbridge as its head. To round up any Muggle-borns or blood traitors on the run, the Snatchers organisation was formed. Also people with known connections to the Order of the Phoenix or sympathies for Muggles, such as Arthur Weasley, were put under surveillance. When Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley infiltrated the Ministry in search of one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, Harry encountered Thicknesse while in the form of Albert Runcorn, with whom Thicknesse seemed familiar. Thicknesse, at the time, was wearing magnificent robes of black and gold. Harry witnessed Thicknesse's altered nature while under the Imperius Curse, which showed him having a strong hatred for Muggle-borns, referring to them as "Mudbloods", as well as blood traitors, whom he claimed to despise just as much. While Harry was searching for the Horcrux in Umbridge's office, Thicknesse arrived momentarily to jot down a note, as well as almost discovered Harry while he was under the Invisibility Cloak, though he ultimately failed to notice him. In late 1997, Xenophilius Lovegood's daughter was kidnapped in order to stop his telling the truth to the public and encouraging support of Harry Potter in his magazine, The Quibbler. Hoping to get her back, he sent an owl to the Ministry when Harry, Hermione and Ron came to see him. Thicknesse promptly dispatched Travers and Selwyn to investigate. They arrested Lovegood, but failed to capture the trio. Battle of Hogwarts During the Battle of Hogwarts, Thicknesse was stationed within the ranks of the Death Eaters and fought with them against the castle's defenders. He was amongst a group of masked and hooded Death Eaters who successfully penetrated Hogwarts and duelled with Percy Weasley. His hood slipped off as he tried to avoid being cursed and Percy mocked his former boss before using a sea urchin jinx, causing Thicknesse to sprout sea urchin-like spikes all over his body. The corridor they were in was then damaged in an explosion that killed Fred Weasley. When the battle later recommenced, moments prior to the duel that ended the War, Thicknesse was "floored" by Arthur and Percy Weasley. Physical appearance Thicknesse is described as having long black hair and a beard streaked with silver, as well as "a great overhanging forehead" that shadowed his glinting eyes.Harry Potter thought he resembled a crab looking out from beneath a rock. Personality and traits It is unknown what Thicknesse was like before the Imperius Curse was placed upon him, or after it was removed when Voldemort was defeated. While under the curse however, his air of lofty authority mixed with his appearance made him generally intimidating and a little too happy with the way things were being run at the Ministry under him and the Death Eaters (most prominently Yaxley), casually espousing the view that blood traitors were as bad as Mudbloods to Harry Potter, who was disguised as Albert Runcorn at the time. It would be unfair to judge Thicknesse solely on his activities during his tenure as Minister for Magic however, as he was being controlled by the Death Eater Yaxley at the time and was not responsible for his actions. However, since the Death Eaters had to resort to the Imperius Curse to get Thicknesse on their side, it is safe to say that he was not a sympathiser of their ideals. As head of the largest Ministry department, one can presume he was a fairly capable wizard and as a law enforcement official. It is implied that he was a strong-willed individual, as he tried very hard to resist the effects of the Imperius Curse.